This is the myth that cutting taxes on the rich will “trickle down” to the rest of the economy. It’s not true and any real economist knows it’s not true. Cutting taxes on rich people only serves to make them richer while making fewer resources available to the rest of us. It’s nothing less than generational theft.

Tax cuts for the rich have created record national debt while at the same time creating the greatest wealth disparity in American history. But then again, that’s probably the real objective, although those who promote it will tell you otherwise.

The next time you hear someone advocating tax cuts for the rich, saying that will benefit the economy, don’t believe them. They’re trying to con you. Don’t fall for it. Let’s get rid of this scam once and for all.

Yes, a balanced budget is a good thing. But prioritizing a balanced budget over the economic well-being of the nation is not just wrong-headed and counterproductive; the long-term damage can be severe.

Sometimes, the only entity large enough to boost the economy is the federal government. For example, during an economic downturn where business is slowing and interest rates are low, deficit spending can be the wisest, if not the only advisable course of action. When Obama took office in 2009, he inherited the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression – eventually, it proved to be government stimulus fueled by deficit spending that made recovery possible.

Claiming that America couldn’t afford such deficit spending, Republicans fought Obama at every turn. As a result, the stimulus was much smaller that it should have been, and thus it took the economy proportionately longer than it should have to recover. (The entire financial package ended up being about $800 billion.) Nevertheless, Obama’s economic policy was successful and what followed was the biggest continuous economic expansion in American history.

The stock market is not the economy, but for comparative purposes, it should be noted that when Obama took office, The Dow stood at 7,949. When Obama left office, the Dow stood at 19,732, a roughly 150% rise over eight years.

So when Trump took office, he inherited an economy that was doing well. Nevertheless, when he proposed a completely unnecessary $3 trillion tax cut that went almost entirely to the rich, Republicans were happy to go along. They didn’t utter a peep about deficits.

At least the Republicans’ position on deficits is now clear: If a Democrat is in the White House, deficits are bad. If a Republican is in the White House, deficits are fine… as long as the money goes to rich people.

It’s time to call this out for what it is: yet another scam to take your money and give it to the rich, handing the bill to you, your kids, your grandkids, and so on. Don’t fall for it.

Please. Despite millions spent on commissions and investigations by Republicans, there has been virtually no evidence of significant voter fraud. The reason we say “virtually” is that there have indeed been several instances of deliberate voter fraud in recent years – and all of them were committed by, or on behalf of, Republicans.

Non-existent voter fraud has been used to justify a flotilla of legislation designed to suppress likely Democratic voters: voter ID laws, aggressively-targeted purging of voter rolls, limitations in voting hours and polling locations, onerous absentee ballot requirements such as signature verification and/or requiring a witness for an absentee ballot application – the list goes on and on.

In each case, the real objective is the same: it’s not to certify the validity of each vote; it’s to make it more difficult for likely Democratic voters to cast a ballot.

If there had been any doubt whatsoever before, the spate of over 50 unsuccessful lawsuits by the Trump campaign seeking to overturn the 2020 election results on the grounds of widespread voter fraud should put them to rest.

There is no such thing as voter fraud. Period.

It happens every year. Right-wing pundits claim that godless liberals and the left-wing are ganging up against Jesus somehow. There are over 400,000 houses of worship in the US – on average, that’s about 8,000 in every state. In each state, there’s one and only one state legislature. Jesus doesn’t need to sit in the legislature – there are plenty of other places he can happily go.

Likewise, the government has no business in any church. Big-money interests regularly use religion to infiltrate themselves into your government – but they’re generally not doing it out of religious enlightenment. They’re in it to make a buck. Big tobacco, pharmaceutical companies, chemical manufacturers – all of these industries and more have bankrolled religious organizations to lobby on their behalf.

They’ve generally gotten their money’s worth in legislation that has enabled them to profit – at the expense of the American public.

The “War on Christmas” accusation may seem trivial on its face – but it’s not. Using peoples’ religious beliefs to spread lies is not just despicable,  it’s dangerous. There has been a steady increase in hate groups during the Trump administration to what is now a record level. Seemingly minor issues like the purported “War on Christmas” can have an outsize effect in reinforcing existing prejudice and feelings of religious persecution, feelings that can give license to violent acts – even martyrdom.

There’s a reason the Founding Fathers put such an emphasis on separating religion from government: they were well aware of the power of religion and how it can easily be used to unscrupulous ends. With a European history of over a millennium of religious wars behind them, the drafters of our founding documents knew exactly what they were doing.

The separation of Church and State is clearly stated in the Constitution – in the First Amendment, no less. When a politician tries to insinuate his or her religion into your government, the first thing you should do is to check your pockets.

Then you can tell them that you’ve “seen the light” – and they’re not getting your vote.

Oil and gas companies have spent billions of dollars trying to persuade people that climate change does not exist. And that even if climate change was, indeed, happening, that it’s not the result of human behavior.

It’s a lie – all of it. In the light of recent catastrophic and just plain weird climate events all over the globe, the assertion that climate change isn’t happening would be laughable… if it wasn’t so tragic.

Over the years, Big Oil has pumped billions into GOP campaign coffers. The results have been predictable: Repeal of environmental laws, the gutting of regulatory agencies, increased government subsidization of oil and gas companies, opening federally-protected wilderness lands to oil exploration, the easing of pollution standards… the list goes on and on.

The big irony here is that even the oil and gas companies know the party’s over. They’ve been divesting themselves of the exploration and drilling business and have instead been aggressively investing in renewable energy technology. In fact, we’re now at the point where renewable energy is actually cheaper than fossil fuels in many cases.

Big Oil is a dead end. And the rest of the world knows it. America needs to get with the program and tell the climate deniers that we’re on to them – and we’re no longer buying what they’re selling.

Over 330 million people live in the US and each and simply maintaining the infrastructure required for us to carry on our lives is a major undertaking. Government is working on your behalf 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, whether you’re aware of it or not.

Many candidates for office run on a platform of “less government,” without specifying exactly what they mean. They’ll often insist that government should be run more like a business. While government administrators generally do their best to adhere to standard management practices to maintain efficiency, it’s important to note that business and  government are two completely different things, with totally different purposes, objectives and priorities.

Take a look at the table below.

Pay special attention to the last item. Now imagine what life would be like without roads, schools, clean water, police, fire and sanitation departments, not just the things you’re aware of that the government pays for, but the dozens more you use every day without even thinking about it.

No doubt, there’s plenty of government waste. (There’s plenty of waste in the private sector too, by the way – think of all those multi-million dollar executive salaries. You don’t see those in government.)

But often, when a candidate rails about wanting to cut government spending, the spending they’re seeking to cut is spending that adversely impacts corporate profit. Corporations can make a lot more money if they can pay workers less, don’t have to clean up after themselves or if they pay little or no penalties for violating workplace regulations.

So the next time you hear a candidate say they want to cut government spending, ask them exactly what they want to cut and why. And then if you agree – and only if you agree – hold them to it.

Oh, by the way: The size of the US federal government in relation to GDP is about 20%, which is consistent with what it’s been for the last 40 years or so. This is significantly smaller than most industrialized nations, virtually all of whom have some form of national health care.